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Crane & Derricks in Construction

On July 28, 2010, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a Final Rule regulating Cranes and Derricks in Construction. The rule addresses the four primary causes of death and injury to construction workers as well as other hazards associated with crane use including requirements for ground conditions, assembly and disassembly of cranes, inspection of equipment, working around power lines. Additionally, the rule covers the training and certification/qualification of crane operators, the use of qualified riggers, and signal person qualification.

The final rule became effective on November 8, 2010.

Significant Changes from Proposed Rule

There are several significant changes and clarifications made to the rule. These are summarized as follows:

Employers must now comply with local and state operator licensing requirements that satisfy specified criteria in §1926.1427.

Employers must pay for certification or qualification of their currently uncertified or unqualified operators.

Certification tests may be administered in any language understood by the operator candidate.

Qualified riggers must be used for rigging operations during assembly and disassembly.

Pre-erection inspections of tower cranes must be performed.

When the rule requires the use of insulating links, the final rule temporarily grandfathers the use of the devices manufactured before the effective date of November 8, 2010 provided that additional conditions are satisfied.

Employers, whose employees are qualified for power transmission and distribution work, are considered to be in compliance with the final rule’s requirements for working around power lines when performing power distribution and transmission work in accordance with §1910.269.

Nationally Accredited Crane Operator Certification Programs

The final rule allows for certification of crane operators through an accredited third party crane operator testing organization that administers written and practical tests of the operator. These organizations are considered to be accredited if they have met all requirements detailed in section §1926.1427(b) (1). OSHA has given a four year phase-in period until November 10, 2014 for contractors to certify or qualify crane operators. The list below provides the names of three organizations currently recognized by OSHA to offer crane certifications. Clicking on the name of either organization listed will direct you to their website.

OSHA’s Cranes and Derricks Webpage

To assist contractors with compliance with the new rule, OSHA has developed a webpage containing fact sheets, frequently asked questions, a PowerPoint presentation covering the final rule and other important information.

Background

Negotiated Rulemaking Crane and Derrick Advisory Committee - C-DAC

OSHA published its intent to establish a Crane and Derrick Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee (C-DAC) under the Negotiated Rulemaking Act (NRA) and the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) on July 16, 2002.

On June 12, 2003, OSHA announced its decision to establish a Crane and Derrick Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee (C-DAC) under the Negotiated Rulemaking Act (NRA), the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) and the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The Charter was filed on June 27, 2003.

The C-DAC Charter was signed on June 27, 2003 by Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. The Charter provided a two year period for C-DAC or until the publication of the proposed standard, whichever is earlier. The Committee would be composed of no more than 25 members including OSHA representative and facilitator with an appropriate balance of interests for negotiated rulemaking. In between July 30, 2003 – July 9, 2004, OSHA held eleven C-DAC meetings.

At 3:15 p.m. EDT on July 9th C-DAC reached final consensus on all issues. All issues were agreed to unanimously except for Section 1422 Operator Qualifications from which AGC and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) dissented.

The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) is the leading association for the construction industry. AGC represents more than 26,000 firms, including over 6,500 of America’s leading general contractors, and over 9,000 specialty-contracting firms. More than 10,500 service providers and suppliers are also associated with AGC, all through a nationwide network of chapters.